Shloka 21

Devanagari script

हिरण्यबिन्दु: कथितो गिरी कालज्जरे महान्‌ | आगरए््त्यपर्वतो रम्य: पुण्यो गिरिवर: शिव:,“कालग्जर पर्वतपर हिरण्यबिन्दु नामसे प्रसिद्ध महान्‌ तीर्थ बताया गया है। आगर््त्यपर्वत बहुत ही रमणीय, पवित्र, श्रेष्ठ एवं कल्याणस्वरूप है

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca | Hiraṇyabinduḥ kathito giriḥ Kālañjare mahān | Āgastyaparvato ramyaḥ puṇyo girivaraḥ śivaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: The great mountain called Kālañjara is spoken of as (the sacred place) Hiraṇyabindu. There too is the delightful Agastya Mountain—holy, foremost among mountains, and auspicious—renowned as a благотворный (welfare-bestowing) tīrtha. The passage highlights how certain landscapes are remembered not merely as geography but as moral-spiritual landmarks that invite purification and right conduct.

Word by Word

हिरण्यबिन्दुःHiraṇyabindu (name of a tīrtha/place)

कथितःis said/has been described

गिरिःmountain

कालञ्जरःKālañjara (proper name, mountain)

महान्great

आगस्त्यपर्वतःAgastya-mountain (mountain associated with Agastya)

रम्यःbeautiful, delightful

पुण्यःholy, meritorious

गिरिवरःbest of mountains

शिवःauspicious, beneficent

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kālañjara (mountain)

Hiraṇyabindu (tīrtha/place-name)

Āgastyaparvata (Agastya Mountain)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames sacred places as ethical-spiritual resources: mountains and tīrthas are praised as puṇya (purifying) and śiva (auspicious), encouraging pilgrimage, self-restraint, and dharmic renewal through contact with sanctified landscapes.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is listing and praising notable tīrthas and sacred mountains. He identifies Kālañjara as associated with the tīrtha-name Hiraṇyabindu and then extols Āgastyaparvata as beautiful, holy, and auspicious.